Brandon Wood was the Angels’ first-round pick in 2003 (23rd overall), and he was the Sporting News’ Minor-League Player of the Year in 2005 after setting home run records in both the Class-A California League and the Arizona Fall League (14).

The Angels finally bowed to the obvious Tuesday night, acknowledging they have no use for Brandon Wood any more – other than as a cautionary tale about the danger of unrealized expectations.

Wood was designated for assignment following Tuesday’s game in Texas, clearing a roster spot so that shortstop Erick Aybar could be activated from the disabled list.

The move means the Angels have 10 days to either trade, release or place Wood on waivers. The waiver move would have to be made in the first seven days of that period. Wood is out of options and could not be sent to the minors without clearing waivers first, something that Angels manager Mike Scioscia acknowledged is unlikely.

“It was tough, a tough decision,” Scioscia said. “He’s one of our guys. We just have no way out of this right now. There’s no roster flexibility.

“He needs to go play and establish his career. We’ll be proud of him when it happens. … We all had high expectations for what he was going to do when he got his chance at the major-league level but it just didn’t happen. Baseball wasn’t fun for Brandon last year and it isn’t fun for him right now.

“It needs to be fun for him again and it will be. We just don’t have the development at-bats he needs at the major-league level.”

The Angels’ first-round pick in 2003 (23rd overall), Wood was the Sporting News’ Minor-League Player of the Year in 2005 after setting home run records in both the Class-A California League (43) and the Arizona Fall League (14). He was the Angels’ top-rated prospect in 2006 and 2007 and one of the most well-regarded power prospects in all of the minor leagues.

Finally given a clear path to a job in the majors in 2010, Wood was a bust. He hit .146 in 81 games with more than twice as many strikeouts (71) as hits (33).

This year, the playing time for Wood has been minimal. He made four starts at shortstop, spelling Maicer Izturis with Aybar on the DL, but was 2 for 14 (.143) with eight strikeouts.

“I think everybody in this room will say that maybe this is what I needed, from the staff to (Scioscia) to most of the guys,” an emotional Wood said after getting the news. “We’ve got an infield hitting .600 combined. Those guys can all play. I had my chance to get it locked down last year and it didn’t happen.

“It’s just tough when you’ve been working and thinking about nothing but being an Angel. You go to bed thinking about it. You wake up thinking about it. Even after last year, I was still thinking about how things could turn around and I could get in there and redeem myself and turn those boos to cheers. … That’s just not the way it worked out.”

Wood, 26, said he felt the weight of expectations after being hailed as the team’s future star for years before he got his big-league opportunity.

“I think I put too much pressure on myself, wanting to put up Rookie-of-the-Year numbers,” he said. “There was a lot of talk from 2007 to 2010. … I panicked a little bit and tried to prove it all right.”

The fact that he will get a second chance to do that with another team – perhaps wiser for his painful failure with the Angels – was not lost on Wood. He admitted he thought about that at times last year as well as this spring. But getting the news after Tuesday’s game left him “a little bit numb to everything” and focused more on the personal relationships he will now leave behind.

“Right now, it’s tears and thoughts of a bunch of really good people, a bunch of people who were in my wedding,” said Wood, who got married in December. “That’s the toughest part. Baseball is a game and I know I’m not done playing. There’s going to be somewhere out there for me to prove myself, redeem myself as a player.”

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